“I’ll tell you one thing, man, if you didn’t know who D-White was, you know who he is now,” said Marcus Smart.
With their backs against the wall Saturday night, the Boston Celtics fell apart. They slowly choked out a double-digit lead over the last 4:56 of the game. And with three seconds left on the clock, they found themselves one second ahead Miami Heat.
That’s when Derek White came to the rescue.
Boston got in, Smart threw a bunt, and after the ball bounced off the rim and out, White was there for a layup, sealing the Celtics victory.
“It all happened so quickly,” said Jaylen Brown. “I couldn’t really figure it out. I called it smart and I thought it was good. Then Derek White came, like a flash of lightning, out of nowhere and saved the day, man. It was just an incredible play.”
The Celtics have struggled in close games all year, and in this one, they should never have gone that low. They were in control all night, but as it became a common theme, they fell apart in the last few minutes.
But that doesn’t matter. White made sure it didn’t matter.
“It’s not helpful to stand in the corner over there, whether he does it or not,” White said. “So, I was shattering glass, and it just got right to me.”
Boston was 0.2 seconds away from booking flights to Cancun and starting its off-season system.
Now, they are far from history.
“I’m still in disbelief. But I’m glad we got another chance, another chance,” Jason Tatum said. It’s far from finished. Still an uphill battle. But it’s good to give yourself another chance. another chance “.
White made it his mission to up his game in the postseason. He got MVP cheers from TD Garden against the Atlanta Hawks, he shot 47.5% from three through the playoffs, and in Game 5 against Miami, he co-led the Celtics offense with Smart.
At every turn, the 28-year-old from Parker, Colorado has made his mark. However, his humble demeanor refuses to allow him to get high.
“We’re just glad we won,” White said. “However we got it done, we got it done. Now on to Game 7.”
White’s name will be plastered across the internet until the beginning of Game 7 because of his incredible information, but the journey that got him there has to be the bigger story.
He was dropped from the basketball team in eighth grade and only had one college offer out of high school (from a DII program), yet he continued to push through every obstacle that came his way.
And for all his successes, he’s still the same, Oreo-lover, first-man of the family that he’s always been.
“It’s going to be a little crazy,” White said of the reaction to the match winner. “My phone is already going off. But [I’ll] Come home tomorrow [and] Play with Hendrix. I’m sure he wouldn’t look at me any differently. So, that would be great.”
When the Boston team fell 3-0, rumors circulated of their fall. Reports of their disdain for one another dominated headlines. But they managed through.
And just when it looked like all their tenacity would be no more, White was there, just as he had been all season.
“This guy has been phenomenal to us for the entire year,” Smart said. “Just playing the way we knew he could play when we picked him. And it was refreshing for us. It was a pleasure to watch him and a pleasure to be on the field with him.”